Abundance

An author has arrived at the principle of reconciliation of the male and female principles yielding sustainable abundance. For a theoretical justification, two points must be clarified.

1) How the national currency and community currency are male and female types, if he says so?

2) The reconciliation results at the top for an ever-increasing abundance and at the bottom a result that can either be positive or negative depending upon the status of the plane where it meets.

Without crossing theoretical swords with him, to accede to his request of supplying Sri Aurobindo's ideas that have a bearing on money, let us first say Ishwara-Shakti is the male and female principle here. In the upper hemisphere of creation their reconciliation leads to, not sustainable abundance, but an ever-increasing abundance. Only in the lower hemisphere, when mind acts through its principle of competition and self-aggrandizement, forces are used to speculation. Removing ego, the plane rises to the upper hemisphere and competition turns into cooperation, speculation is abolished and an abundance puts in its appearance only to increase in its resource. The question is how to raise MONEY to the higher hemisphere. Before we come there, let us supply him the main points of Sri Aurobindo's Yoga that have a direct bearing on abundance.

Sri Aurobindo starts with the assumption which he later proves that an Eternal, Infinite, Unmanifest Absolute has created this manifested universe. This Infinite is the source of all abundance, not only money.

Manifestation starts as Self-Conscious Being which passing through the stages of Consciousness, Bliss, Supermind, Mind and Life, ends in Matter. This is involution. Evolution starts from Matter evolving life and proceeds till it reaches the original Self-Conscious Being and finally into the unmanifest Absolute.

Our life is confined to vital and mental. For purposes of abundance we shall bring in Supermind and ignore the rest for the present.

In the process of involution, among many other things, knowledge becomes Ignorance. Both are of infinite dimension. As knowledge evolves out of Ignorance, the evolving knowledge is infinite and limitless. As a parallel, abundance evolving out of scarcity, we find it an infinite abundance.

So, abundance is a phenomenon at points where something evolves out of its opposite. So, if money is scarce, if we can seek a process of evolution, every point of scarcity will issue abundance. Evolution for Sri Aurobindo is the dissolution of ego, out of which the psychic evolves. Competition represents ego and cooperation represents the psychic. Giving the competitive currency a cooperative character, the economist is arranging for abundance to issue.

[Sri Aurobindo's Yoga comes to this aspect of Infinity in each chapter in various ways. I enclose a list of 25 ways. Here let me use only a few that are directly relevant.]

On page 3, Sri Aurobindo in Life Divine speaks of the reconciliation of mind and Supermind and says how the greatest wonders will issue out of it in endless abundance. A couple of lines earlier He says the reconciliation of vital and mind led to the birth of science. Its achievements are not only wonderful but also limitless. When two planes, or two successive planes reconcile, great and limitless creation takes place. Money essentially belongs to the vital plane. It is now managed by mind. We think of bringing an element of Supermind into mind so that abundance will issue by replacing competition of the mind by the cooperation of the Supermind.

Vital is aggressively possessive. In comparison to it, mind is very largely cooperative. Even when this element - element of predominance of mind over vital - is emphasised, the abundance we aim at will be achieved. Of course, Supermind has the principles of Oneness, Harmony and Mutuality. If these come into play, especially mutuality, the amount of abundance will increase. The element of mutuality is already there in lending as the lender and borrower are beneficiaries. Efforts are called for to increase this element of mutuality, they need to be reinforced and further protected from the destructive elements. Social regulation permits all these.

Integration:Â Sri Aurobindo pleads for the integration of Matter and spirit; the Universe and the individual; mind and vital; One and the Many; and every possible opposite or different aspects.

At all these points of integration, apart from the effect he expects, unfailingly the aspect of abundance appears. It is for us to devise ways and means that bring in these principles in the working of money.

Money started as a medium of exchange for moveable goods and services that can be rendered. When mortgage came into existence, the principle of exchange was slightly extended to immovable property. This is an application of reconciling or integrating Matter and Spirit. Globalisation of currency is integrating the universal with the individual. For the purposes of the author, ANY ONE of these innumerable principles will suffice. It is possible for us to explain to him at length all those principles of Sri Aurobindo's yoga relevant to money in terms of his concept of creating abundance. If he can read the originals and fully comprehend the scope of His principles, it will be easier. Even otherwise, we can state Sri Aurobindo's principles, explain their application to money and devise such strategies which will bring that abundance into circulation.

It is of significance to note that the reconciliation of Being and Non-Being opens one to the very source of Infinity viz, the Absolute. The same abundance is seen when mind acts on matter to release the infinite energies hidden. The principle is, integration or reconciliation of any two planes results in the abundance we seek. The higher the planes - Being and Non-Being - the higher the abundance. And there is no difference between infinity at a low or a higher level as infinity cannot be increased.

Uniting the Superconscient and subconscient is a subject of another chapter.

Sri Aurobindo's position is there is only JOY all over creation. He even talks of intolerable ecstasy and Mother speaks of unflinching rapture. Still we feel pain, sorrow, suffering, disease and death. Sri Aurobindo says these are all the experiences of the ego, not the inner spirit. Ego is not obliged to respond with pain, it is the sovereign instinct of the body to reject death are his ideas. Extending these ideas to money, loss, speculation, crisis, and bankruptcy are not compelled by the institution of money but are chosen results of the ego of the man who uses the money. The entire march of civilisation is a march that blunts money. We can take one more step or many more steps in all directions.

His idea of a reference global currency is resourceful and will certainly work wonders. But later that too will inherit the weaknesses of national currencies. The culprit is not the currency but the EGO of the user.

Apart from all these ideas, the capacity of banks to create credit, when extended to immovable property and particularly INVISIBLE property of human value is the real source of great growing abundance. As electricity came and civilised man in 100 years, a newer currency can come into existence and wipe off Asian poverty in a decade and open to the West a life free from tension and violence.

Appendix:

Infinity is generated when the limited concepts of positive, negative are outgrown.

Peter the Great, Christian forgiveness.

Ego need not respond with pain.

Supermind reconciling with mind, infinite wonders are born.

Moral, ethical concepts constrain. Infinity is born when they are shed.

Intolerable ecstasy, unflinching rapture.

Reconciliation of Matter and Spirit.

Reconciliation of Being and Non-Being raises one to the Absolute.

Reconciliation of Man and the Universe is the goal of God.

Giving up the senses Reason becomes intuition.

Withdrawal of ego shows the sea of energy.

The Force is conscious. There is no waste.

Satchidananda tries to express itself in the objects.

Maya creates infinitely.

Supermind creates out of Real-Idea and it is infinite.

The ALL places its workings before itself, which is infinite creation.

Supermind can take any number of poises.

Mind divides the Force into infinitesimals.

Life survives the universe.

There is life in death in the reverse. Hence it is infinite.

Life takes sensation of body to mind to control body.

Matter is Satchidananda. Hence infinite.

Overmind gives million possibilities to Truth.

Book II

Consciousness emerging out of infinite inconscient has infinite possibilities.

The simultaneous integrality of Time and Timelessness is an infinite field.

The Eternal creates infinite vibrations in the Individual.

The infinite knowledge emerging out of infinite Ignorance has infinite results.

The surface creates focused intensities. Naturally they are infinite.

Evil being the opposite of good, in waning generates infinite possibilities.

Book II, Part II

The One is infinite. The Many are infinite. That which contains both is infinite.

Spirit moves matter which is its opposite. In reversing and becoming the original infinite spirit, it gives birth to Infinity.

Dense population when converted by education changes from being a problem of poverty to one of plenty.

Infinity is created by the opposites being reconciled. His own principle of Yin and Yang.

When the infinite human trust reflects on goods and services, infinite money is created. Greater quantity can be created by its relating to material property. Greatest can be produced by Trust begets trust.